CALL PROCESS
UPDATE: November 15, 2023
The Call Committee is making good progress with the search for our next Associate Pastor. The MSP, Ministry Site Profile, is published to the Synod’s site so that all potential candidates can assess our information regarding Hope and the job description. The team is beginning to review and talk to candidates; initial meetings are scheduled. Please continue to pray for the committee and candidates throughout this process.
Kellie McKibbon
Call Committee Chair
UPDATE: OCTOBER 12, 2023
Hello Hope Community,
Thank you to all who expressed interest in serving on the Call Committee, and for your prayers and support as we begin this process. Through consideration of the candidates, discernment, and prayer, SPC has appointed a Call Committee comprised of members to represent the congregation as we search for our next Associate Pastor. The Call Committee members are: Kellie McKibbon, Amy Finley, Kelley Parish, Mike Petix, Melissa Findlay-Stevenson, Jennifer Berkemeier and Maris Efrusy.
Now that the Call Committee has been formed, the search for an Associate Pastor is underway. Next, WE WANT YOUR INPUT! Please join us for a listening session on October 22nd between services at 9:30 am in the Studio meeting room at Hope to discuss the focus of this call. We need the voice of the Congregation to guide the candidate selection. What is most important to you for the skills, qualities and focus or our next Associate Pastor? Please join us in this discussion.
During this process please feel free to reach out to any of the members of the Call Committee. We welcome your calls, thoughts and opinions. Please keep Hope and the Call Committee in prayer as we enter this search. We will continue to provide updates as we have them via announcements, enews, and the Call Process page on our website.
Kellie McKibbon
Call Committee Chair
UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 22, 2023
Greetings Hope!
I was so glad to see so many of you at HopeFest last Sunday enjoying the fellowship and community. A shout out to those who helped plan HopeFest - thank you! I hope you had a moment to chat with folks from the various ministries Hope provides for our congregation and broader community. Delivering those wonderful ministries requires incredible effort from both staff and lay leaders.
With the departure of Pastor Rebecca, we must now turn our attention to bringing in a new Associate Pastor through a call process. The Strategic Planning Council and Pastor Kristin are in agreement that we should call an Associate Pastor of Faith Formation explicitly focused on children, youth, and family ministries. We have a long history of being a welcoming faith community for families, and we want to be sure to continue that!
The first step in the process is to put together a call committee. A call committee is charged with the important task of identifying an individual for the Associate Pastor role that can live into our mission, exemplify our values, and add value to the already exemplary work we do. This means participating in meetings and interviews as well as engaging with members of Hope to understand their needs and perspectives. A call committee should represent the diverse membership of our congregation not only demographically, but also in philosophical/theological perspective. As you can see, the call committee is extremely important! Call committees are composed of seven members of the congregation. Of the seven seats, three are designated (Personnel Committee Chair, SPC President, SPC Director of Leadership) and four at-large seats.
SPC will begin forming this call committee in the coming weeks, both by inviting those who may be interested to contact us, and by reaching out to some of you who we think might be a good fit to prayerfully consider. If you are interested in serving in this capacity and would like to be considered for the call committee, please contact SPC through Hope's website “SPC General Inquiry” form, or call the church office by Monday, October 2. Please note, it may be the case that we have many more people interested than the spots available so please be gracious and understanding in this process. SPC will be discerning and selecting who we feel can best represent Hope as we look to call our next Associate Pastor.
In order to keep our community informed of our progress, this message and any future messages regarding the call process can be found on a new page on our website titled “Call Process”.
Please continue to keep Hope and our future Associate Pastor in your prayers, as we trust in God to guide us through this process, and with great hope for the future!
God’s peace,
Amy Finley, SPC President